Jan Dhan: ‘Age of banking revolution’ upon India, says Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the nation is experiencing an 'age of banking revolution' that has replaced the 'brick and mortar' model of banking.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the nation is experiencing an ‘age of banking revolution’ that has replaced the ‘brick and mortar’ model of banking.

“Opening of 180 million accounts in 100 days under the Jan Dhan programme has surprised everyone across the world, as how is it possible in a big country like India,” said Jaitley, while launching the IDFC Bank here.

“This has become possible, as the character of banking has changed in the country. Bricks and mortar branches introduced banking correspondents, ATMs, Internet banking, payment gateways, etc. An age of banking revolution has come to the country, and there is hardly any family in the country which is outside the purview of banking,” he said.

Hailing the banking sector for popularising insurance and pension facilities, Jaitley said, “The banks are also helping the unorganised sectors under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Under the scheme, which started a week back, more than 61 lakh families, who are new entrepreneurs, got Rs 35,000 crore.”

The IDFC Bank, he said, which will a combination of bricks and mortar and Internet banking, would reach out to people in villages, and will not only provide benefits to the rural people, but also help create jobs.